United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Feb-Mar 2023
This WEM Face-to-Face (WEMF2F) is part of the WEM blended learning process which includes: (1) preworkshop self-study, (2) attendance at a 3-day live virtual WEM training conducted via Zoom from 22-27 February, and (3) the 7 day field-based face-to-face (F2F) WEM training course which was conducted for one group from 5-11 March and for a second group on 15-21 March 2023 in Brindisi, Italy at the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Brindisi, managed by WFP.
UNHCR Division of Emergency, Security and Supply (DESS) provided the overall coordination, planning and administration for the WEM. In concert with UNHCR DESS and UNHCR resource persons/trainers, InterWorks LLC helped prepare the workshop materials and provided overall facilitation for the event.
The WEM is a well-designed, fit-for-purpose event, to prepare participants for emergency deployment. It complements well the other online and self-study components to ensure a comprehensive overall experience. Participants at this WEMF2F also had opportunities for individual interviews by ES roster deployment staff during the course of the workshop.
This intensive and demanding course prepared participants for surge emergency deployment focusing on three areas of emergency management: managing yourself, managing relationships, and managing your operational role through all phases of the deployment. The course was interactive and work-oriented, and employed a variety of methodologies, including a 3-day field simulation exercise, presentations and case study, as well as group and plenary discussions. The agenda included sessions on team-building, operations planning, financial and administrative systems, operational partnerships, communication and negotiation skills, security, coordination and information-sharing, telecommunications, and humanitarian protection. This was also the second time to conduct the SELP training in parallel with the WEM. Thus, the trainings included periodic planned interactions between the SELP participants as Emergency Team Leaders, and the WEM participants as ERT multi-functional teams.
The program has been an excellent experience! Thank you for all the hard work you´ve put into this, it shows on every activity.
– Workshop participant